1. Title Tag

Help Google find you. The title tag of your page (the words that appear in the very, very top of your browser in the upper left) is one of the major elements that Google considers. It should include the keywords you hope people are putting into Google to find you. It shouldn't just say "Home" or "About Us". Make it like, "The best karaoke enthusiast organization in the United States," assuming you believe people might be searching "karaoke enthusiast organization" in Google to find you. Simple fix, big results in your search engine ranking.

As you consider a new website for your association this year, keep the following 5 things in mind. They are in our experience the components that make a new website viable, meaningful, sticky, scalable, member-focused, modern and relevant in 2010.

According to SEMPO, over 64 million US wireless subscribers surfed the mobile web in May 2009 - almost twice as many people as in the previous year. This accounts for more than 20% of the total US population.

We're big fans of associations sticking to their core strengths. We feel the same way about software providers. So, it always come as a bit of a surprise to us when associations expect a content management system to do everything from update their website to stir their latte.

Got a BlackBerry? Maybe an iPhone? No doubt your members do, too. So what happens when they go to your website on their handheld? Yep, that's what I thought. Not much. Virtually all of the associations we talk to (and we talk to many everyday) have no mobile strategy for their organization. Intentions to get their site mobile-enabled are strong, but few have actually done it.